Personalization of information delivery is now common on the Internet. In recent years, numerous services involving personalization have become available. Some notable examples include: personalized news services delivered by e-mail (or other push technology); personalized WWW portals centered around Internet directories and Internet search, such as AltaVista, Excite, Lycos; personalized WWW portals around specific domains, such as music (mp3.com), auctions (eBay), finance (eTrade); and personalized e-commerce sites, such as amazon.com.
Personalization of the user's experience is based on user interaction with the site. Explicit user profile data is obtained when the user fills in a registration form, for example. Implicit data on the user is gathered based on user interactions with the site what the user searches for, what the user buys, etc. Many WWW portals now use some form of adaptive recommendation to provide further personalization based on users' profiles. Adaptive recommendation techniques mine the collection of users' profiles to find similarities among users. WWW portal sites can then provide recommendations to users based on what similar users have bought, read, etc. Companies who sell adaptive recommendation services include NetPerceptions, LikeMinds, and DirectHit.
In the near future, much of users' access to information and media will shift from personal computers and the need to be connected to the Internet to handheld devices which are designed primarily for use while not connected to the Internet. Examples of handheld devices include cellular telephones, PDAs (personal digital assistants), MP3 players and portable reading appliances. People already use handheld devices to access financial information, send short messages, perform financial transactions, access weather reports and sports scores, shop on-line, comparison shop, make travel plans (purchase tickets, reserve hotels, maps, etc.), get directions, listen to music, and read books, newspapers and work documents.
Already, some companies are appearing that are trying to position themselves as portal sites for users of handheld devices. These information and media providers will want a way to personalize their offerings to users of handheld devices based on users' interactions with the handheld devices. These information and media providers will want a way to mine the collection of user data and provide personalized recommendations on the basis of user data. A segment of the user population will be willing to trade interaction data in return for improved and personalized information and media delivery.